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Super Parents are invulnerable – especially when it comes to kids

In seven years of writing and publishing this blog, I thought I was speaking to people who were mostly like me – an imperfect parent/teacher/coach who makes mistakes, but has a genuine desire to do what’s right for kids.

Boy, was I wrong. The world is actually populated with Super Parents.

Super Parents are metahumans whose kids have never seen a Nickelodeon cartoon, are always in bed before 8 p.m. and always eat their vegetables. Super Parents have never lost a kid in an amusement park or a department store. They always keep track of their kids.

Lest I forget, Super Parents also have the uncanny ability to become experts on topics they have never studied in places they have never worked. Their talents are truly awesome.

And I don’t like them. Any of them. At all.

Their oozing, condescending, asphyxiating brand of snark is too much for even me to take. Super Parents know everything, can do anything and don’t make mistakes.

Did I mention I don’t like them? Oh, yes. Sorry.

The situation in Cincinnati involving Harambe the gorilla and a 4-year-old boy has summoned Super Parents everywhere. They have threatened and insulted the boy’s parents and offered their own “expert” opinions on what wildlife and zoological personnel should have done during the potentially life-threatening incident involving a child.

It’s unfortunate that Harambe died, but it is good that the child was saved.

Questions still need to be answered, though. How did the child get into the gorilla enclosure? Was it a flaw in the structure or ingenuity on the part of a curious youngster? What were the adults doing, not just the parents, but the adults responsible for making sure little kids don’t get in and play with the gorillas?

When the rifle was fired that killed Harambe, the little boy was still in the area. How will this affect him psychologically? Super Parents don’t care. The little boy has siblings. Their brother could have been killed. Any concern for them, Super Parents?

Super Parents don’t empathize with the sheer terror the mom must have felt as she saw her son about 12 feet beneath her at the mercy of Harambe. They don’t care about how the boy is recovering as he did suffer injuries from his fall and from the gorilla.

What does any of this have to do with sports, Sportsmanship Guy? Well, situations like this speak to the mindset and perspective of parents. People are concerned with everything but the children. Adults get consumed by the park, the game or activity and assigning blame for wrongdoing.

Super Parents, while you’re leaping tall buildings and exposing the evils of social media, please do us mortals a favor and try lifting kids up every once in awhile. We would really appreciate the help.